Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins is in hospital after a crash on a road near his home in north-west England.

Wiggins, 32, who capped a triumphant year by also winning a gold medal at the London Olympics, was involved in a collision with a van in Wrightington, north-west of Manchester, according to the Lancashire Evening News. Wiggins lives in nearby Ecclestone.

The newspaper reported Wiggins might have suffered several broken ribs as well as hand and wrist injuries, although local police had refused to provide any details of his injuries.

Petrol station attendant Yasmin Smith, who rushed to Wiggins' aid after the collision, told the paper: "By the time I got there he had moved to a safer place but was still on the ground and he was in a lot of pain.

"He said he thought he had broken his ribs and while a lot of police cars arrived it was about 15 minutes before the ambulance got there, by which time he was blue."